Summary: Feeling guilty about your sins does absolutely no good unless it motivates you to change your heart!

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.

3 I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.

4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.

9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

God wants the conviction we feel in our hearts to produce a change in our actions.

He doesn’t put conviction there just to let you know that you have done wrong, but that it might bring change.

I’m not preaching this sermon this morning just to make you feel guilty about your short-comings and sins in regards to your relationship with God.

Because I believe that, if every Christian here today were completely honest they would have to admit that there is some area in their relationship with God that needs improvement.

The question now is what are you going to do about your guilt?

I am here this morning, not to make you feel guilty, but to be an instrument that God can use to bring about a genuine change in your life.

Feeling guilty about our sins does absolutely no good unless it motivates you to change your heart!

And, God wants to change your heart so that you can experience true freedom and all the blessings that are held back because of sin.

It is time to reflect upon the condition of our personal and corporate relationship with God.

We must have sermons that provoke the Holy Spirit to deal with us by pointing out the areas of our lives that do not please God.

Revival will only come when we make a genuine commitment to change those things that the Holy Spirit points out to us.

Are you ready for that? Are you tired of being stirred but not changed? If your answer is no, then you are wasting your time here this morning. But if your answer is yes, then say yes to Christ this morning and let Him change you this morning.

There are three basic truths that will help us understand that God wants the conviction we feel in our hearts to produce a change in our actions.

The first truth is…

I. GUILT IS A MEANS TO AN END AND NOT AN END IN ITSELF (v. 9)

1. Paul rejoiced, not because his letters to the Corinthian church made them feel bad, but because the letters forced them to deal with the issues they faced on a personal level as well as on a church level.

They certainly had plenty of issues to deal with!

(1) There were divisions in the church (a difference of opinion; disagreement) …I believe it the way Paul teaches it, I believe it the way Cephas teaches it … carpet blue/green, she should teach/sing, no, he should)

(2) There were “super saints” in the church trying to run the show.

Did you know that super saints usually don’t run anything? They are usually the one who do the praying, fasting, working, and giving without wanting any recognition.

(3) There was sexual immorality in the lives of the church members– incestuous relationships…